The white-cheeked starling or grey starling (''Spodiopsar cineraceus'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

of the

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate swarming behavior, know ...

family. It is native to eastern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

where it is a common and well-known bird in much of its range.

Taxonomy

The white-cheeked starling was formerly placed in the genus ''

Sturnus ''Sturnus'' is a genus of starlings. As discussed below, the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of this group is complex, and other authorities differ considerably in which species they place in this genus, and in the species boundaries within ''Stur ...

''. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2008 found that the genus was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. In the reoganization to create

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genera, the white-cheeked starling and the

red-billed starling The red-billed starling (''Spodiopsar sericeus'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in south and southeastern China. Taxonomy The red-billed starling was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Fri ...

were moved to the resurrected genus ''

Spodiopsar ''Spodiopsar'' is a genus of Asian birds in the family Sturnidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Spodiopsar'' was introduced in 1889 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe. The name was to replace ''Poliopsar'', introduced by Sharpe in 1888, w ...

'' that had been introduced in 1889 by

Richard Bowdler Sharpe Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 – 25 December 1909) was an English people, English zoologist and ornithology, ornithologist who worked as curator of the bird collection at the British Museum of natural history. In the course of his car ...

. The species is

: no

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised.

Description

White-cheeked Starling perching on a rock

White-cheeked starlings are 24 cm in length. The adult male is mainly dark grey-brown with a paler belly and a whitish band across the rump. The head is blackish with whitish cheeks and forehead. There is a white border to the tail and white markings on the secondary wing feathers. The legs are pale orange and the bill is orange with a black tip. Adult females are similar to the males but paler and duller. The juvenile is brown with pale cheeks and rump and no black tip to the bill. The loud, monotonous call is a series of harsh, creaking notes.

Distribution and ecology

The breeding range covers central and north-east

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and south-east

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. In winter, birds from colder regions migrate south to southern and eastern China,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, southern Japan,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and northern

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

with

vagrants Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

reaching the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. There is a record from

Homer, Alaska Homer (Denaʼina language, Dena'ina: ''Tuggeght'') is a City (Alaska), city in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage. According to the 2020 United ...

in 1998 which probably arrived with a ship (West 2002). It inhabits

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

, and open country and has also adapted to parks and gardens in urban areas. It is most common in lowland areas (usually below 700m in Japan). It has a varied diet which includes fruit and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s such as

mole cricket Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole, Australian mammals Other common meanings * Nevus, a growth on human skin ** Melanocytic nevus, a specific type of ...

s. The breeding season lasts from March to July and often two

clutches A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does the ...

of eggs are laid during that time. The nest is built in a hole in a tree or building or in a

nestbox A nest box, also spelled nestbox, is a man-made enclosure provided for animals to nest in. Nest boxes are most frequently utilized for birds, in which case they are also called birdhouses or a birdbox/bird box, but some mammals such as bats ma ...

. Four to nine eggs are laid and are incubated for 14 to 15 days. The young birds

fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between egg, hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnera ...

13 to 15 days after hatching.

In Pop Culture

It is confirmed by lead director of Pokemon,

Junichi Masuda is a Japanese video game composer, director, designer, producer, singer, programmer and trombonist, best known for his work in the ''Pokémon'' franchise. He was a member of Game Freak where he was an employee and executive at the company s ...

, that the white-cheeked Starling is the inspiration for the Pokemon Starly in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.

References

External links

Bird Research - White-cheeked Starling

Sources

* * Brazil, Mark A. & Yabuuchi, Masayuki (1991): ''The Birds of Japan''.

Christopher Helm Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the ''Helm Identification Guides''. Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar, wh ...

, London. * Jønsson, Knud A. & Fjeldså, Jon (2006): A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri). '' Zool. Scripta'' 35(2): 149–186. (HTML abstract) * MacKinnon, John Ramsay, Phillipps, Karen & He, Fen-qi (2000): ''A Field Guide to the Birds of China''. Oxford University Press. * Robson, Craig(2002): ''A guide to the birds of Southeast Asia: Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia''. New Holland, London. * West, George C. (2002): ''A Birder's Guide to Alaska''. American Birding Association. *Zuccon, Dario; Cibois, Anne; Pasquet, Eric & Ericson, Per G.P. (2006): Nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data reveal the major lineages of starlings, mynas and related taxa. ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 41(2): 333–344. (HTML abstract) {{Taxonbar, from=Q27075595

white-cheeked starling The white-cheeked starling or grey starling (''Spodiopsar cineraceus'') is a passerine bird of the starling family. It is native to eastern Asia where it is a common and well-known bird in much of its range. Taxonomy The white-cheeked starling wa ...

Birds of China Birds of Japan Birds of Korea Birds of Manchuria

White-cheeked starling The white-cheeked starling or grey starling (''Spodiopsar cineraceus'') is a passerine bird of the starling family. It is native to eastern Asia where it is a common and well-known bird in much of its range. Taxonomy The white-cheeked starling wa ...

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